A new chapter for career guidance: updated Gatsby Benchmarks adopted into government guidance for schools, colleges and ITPs
Today (8 May 2025), the Department for Education published updated guidance confirming that, from September 2025, all secondary schools, colleges and independent training providers (ITPs) will be expected to use the updated Gatsby Benchmarks to shape their careers programmes. This marks an exciting new chapter for careers guidance in England. Beth Jones, Head of Career Programmes, Gatsby Charitable Foundation
Recognising your impact
We warmly welcome the government’s reaffirmed commitment to the benchmarks as the bedrock of careers guidance for young people. However, what stands out most at this milestone is the dedication of the careers ecosystem. The enthusiastic and purposeful response to the updated Gatsby Benchmarks from practitioners and the sector has been inspiring. You’ve demonstrated that great careers guidance isn’t just a policy aspiration – it’s a reality being delivered every day.
But great careers guidance doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s the result of collaboration across whole institutions, supported by a local community of employers, expert advisers and families. In turn, this local community needs the support of a strong regional and national system, including the essential infrastructure, careers leader training and digital resources delivered by our colleagues at the Careers & Enterprise Company.
At Gatsby we want to take this opportunity to recognise everyone who makes up this vibrant careers community including our sector-level partners, stakeholders and the on-the-ground experts including secondary schools, special schools, alternative provision settings, colleges and ITPs. You all helped shape the updates to the benchmarks.
Thank you for your incredible efforts so far – your energy and expertise are what have made the benchmarks a practical and powerful framework over the past decade. The sector’s contributions were vital to the recent benchmark review process. They will be just as instrumental to making adoption of the updated framework happen.
Takeaways from the guidance
For the first time, the Department for Education’s guidance extends to ITPs with learners aged up to 18 – or up to 25 for those with an education, health and care plan – recognising the important role these providers play in shaping young people’s futures.
The updated guidance also confirms that the government’s Work Experience Guarantee will be aligned to the new definition of meaningful workplace experiences which has been added to Benchmark 6. Adopting this strengthened benchmark now will support schools with planning for delivering this guarantee in the future.
At the heart of the new guidance is a strong call to action. Headteachers, principals and governing boards are being urged to champion careers guidance by backing their careers leaders and investing in high-quality, evidence-based provision. This isn’t just about meeting a statutory requirement – it’s about making a meaningful difference to young people’s lives.
The evidence is clear: embedding good careers guidance into the fabric of a school or college doesn’t just help students make more informed choices, it improves outcomes across the board – from attendance and behaviour to attainment, inclusion and wellbeing. When careers guidance is treated as a whole-institution priority, aligned with strategic development plans, it can become a powerful driver of improvement.
Evidence-based evolution
Evidence was at the heart of our review of the benchmarks which aimed to ensure the framework continues to reflect what world-class careers guidance looks like today and into the future.
The resulting, refreshed framework, published in late 2024 as part of Good Career Guidance: The Next Ten Years, retains the eight benchmarks themselves – because they work – but includes practical refinements based on evidence uncovered during the two-year review. The updates strengthen key areas such as inclusion, leadership, data use, and parental engagement, while placing even more emphasis on meaningful, high-quality experiences for every young person.
Getting ready for September 2025
We know many of you are already planning ahead. With one term to go until implementation, now is the perfect time to start embedding the updated benchmarks into your 2025/26 plans.
We want to help to make this next phase as smooth and successful as possible. That’s why, along with the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC), we’ve launched new resources to support implementation. From inspirational stories of trail-blazing practitioners via our new Gatsby Benchmarks Champions hub to the CEC’s new tailored toolkits and free, interactive e-learning courses, whatever your setting or role, support is available. The updated government guidance is available to view here.
Together, we can ensure that even more young people, whatever their background, receive the high-quality career guidance they deserve. Thank you again for being part of this shared mission.